Max Pruss | |
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| Born | (1891-09-13)13 September 1891 |
| Died | 28 November 1960(1960-11-28) (aged 69) |
| Occupation | Airship captain |
| Employer | Deutsche Zeppelin-Reederei GmbH |
| Known for | Captain ofLZ 129Hindenburg |
Max Pruss (13 September 1891 – 28 November 1960) was the captain of theZeppelinLZ 129Hindenburg on its last voyage and a surviving crew member of the disaster.
Max Pruss was born in 1891 in Sgonn,East Prussia (nowZgon, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship,Poland). He joined theGerman Navy in 1906 and completed airship training duringWorld War I, serving as anelevatorman on the German Zeppelins. Pruss became part of theHindenburg crew in 1936 on the third flight toRio de Janeiro. During his career, he flew 171 times over the Atlantic.The final flight of theHindenburg was May 3–6, 1937, and it was Pruss' first flight as commanding Captain of theHindenburg.[1] According toAirships.net he was a member of theNSDAP.[2] He died at age 69.
Pruss was commander of the airship during theHindenburg disaster of 6 May 1937. This was his first time commanding a trip to Lakehurst. Pruss and several crew members rode theHindenburg down to the ground as it burned, then ordered everybody out. He carried radio operator Willy Speck out of the wreckage, then looked for survivors until rescuers forcibly restrained him. Pruss suffered extensive burns and had to be taken out by ambulance to Paul Kimball Hospital in Lakewood. The burns were so severe that he was given last rites, but although his face was disfigured for the rest of his life, his condition improved over the next few months. Pruss was unable to testify at investigative committees, but officially he was not held responsible.
Pruss, along with other airship crewmen, maintained that the disaster was caused by sabotage, and dismissed the possibility that it was sparked by lightning or static electricity. Although Master Zeppelin CaptainHugo Eckener did not rule out other causes,[3][4] he criticized Pruss' decision to carry out the landing in poor weather conditions, expressing his belief that sharp turns ordered by Pruss during the landing approach may have caused gas to leak, which could have been ignited by static electricity. Pruss insisted that such turns were normal procedure, and that the stern heaviness experienced during the approach was normal due to rainwater being displaced at the tail. It has been suggested that Pruss maintained his belief of sabotage because of guilt or to maintain his own credibility and that of the airship business.[5]
Pruss returned to Germany around October 1937, where he served as commandant ofFrankfurt Airport asWorld War II broke out. By this time he was already urging the modernization of Germany's remaining Zeppelin fleet, and during a 1940 visit byHermann Göring to Frankfurt Airport this was the subject of an alleged quarrel between Pruss and Göring. In the 1950s Pruss tried to raise money for new Zeppelin construction, citing the comfort and luxury of this mode of transportation.[6] He died in 1960 of pneumonia after a stomach operation. Pruss did not see his dream realized, as his death was over 30 years before the construction of a new airship at theFriedrichshafen complex byZeppelin Neue Technologie (NT).
In the 1975 film,The Hindenburg, Pruss was portrayed byCharles Durning. This portrayal is inaccurate because Pruss is portrayed as ignoring the advice of the 2nd CaptainErnst Lehmann, who only traveled as an observer,[1] saying "I'll do the worrying on this trip".[citation needed] In the docudramaHindenburg: The Untold Story he was portrayed byAlbert Welling. In the 2011 RTL television movie he is portrayed by Jürgen Schornagel.
TheHindenburg is featured in the seriesBeyond Belief: Fact or Fiction as the setting of a story in which a married couple ride on the airship while recounting to friends of theirs how years ago they escaped certain death when they missed a trip on the doomed Passenger LinerRMS Lusitania.
In the pilot episode of the TV seriesTimeless Pruss was featured but not mentioned by name.
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